Sunbaked Babies in San Diego

My Ice Cream SIL taught me this expression. It's the delicious way your own child smells after time in the sun, often with traces of sunscreen still on them.

I had two Sunbaked Babies this weekend. Really they were Sunbaked Seven-Year-Olds but I am partaking in a little poetic license.

The three of us flew to San Diego Friday night and spent the weekend with my cousins. Sara and I were close as children and had drifted apart due mostly to geography. She and her family moved back to California a few years ago and she'd long since issued a standing invitation for us to come and visit. Why did we wait so long?

They are much more religious than we are and it was interesting to see how they lived. Her husband is a psychiatrist so not only was I concerned about my children mixing up the milk and meat dishes and discussing their love affair with bacon, I also wondered what notes Michael was taking. They observe Shabbat on Saturdays and spend the day in shul. That gave us the opportunity to borrow their minivan (I'd never driven one before!) and meet friends at Legoland.

Legoland was a blast! We were there when it opened at 10a and ran around until we were completely spent, around 5p. The park is about 3/4 the size of Disneyland, much larger than I'd expected. We didn't even cover half of it. There is VIP Volvo parking. Sadly, mine was at the Oakland Airport Park & Fly.

Where to begin with the park? The kids best liked the ginormous Lego dragon. When you spoke into the receiver at its base it changed your voice and the dragon spoke your words. I best liked Miniland, which are Lego models of several cities. I loved the recreation of President Obama's inauguration, which was created right down to the spectators and the First Lady's yellow attire. I also loved the classic San Francisco Victorian's. Bourbon Street in New Orleans was pretty impressive, too.

We rode roller coasters and drove boats and spun on teacup-like rides and ate Apple Fries dipped in vanilla frosting (yum!) We admired the Lego busts of famous people, including Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth.

The park didn't get crowded until lunchtime and we just had a great day. I was sorry when we just ran out of steam and had to leave. I wish Dave had been with us; he would have loved it as much as we did.

Sunday we went to Del Mar beach with my Sara and the kids. I'd never actually seen people surf before. And the coastal houses were amazing; I would love to rent one for a week. The kids played in the surf, built sand forts and buried each other while my cousin and I sat under umbrellas and laughed at how much we still had in common after having three children apiece and living very different lives. She's a Twilight junkie, too, and I think I convinced her to try Vampire Porn. We came home mid afternoon, bathed and went to IHOP for a late lunch. (I had to have the no-bacon-in-front-of-our-cousins-who-keep-Kosher talk with the kids at the restaurant.) Then they dropped us off at the airport.

We'll be back soon.